“There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”
1 Samuel 2:2
In ancient Jewish culture, a woman’s worth was measured by the number of children (especially sons) she produced. She’d be accepted and respected, even held in high regard the more children she had. But a woman with no children was pitied and perhaps suspected of secret sin.
Hannah had the love of a faithful husband as well as the love of God. But she had no children. How she longed for a baby! She prayed fervently, and the fruitless years went by one after another.
Imagine her joy when one day the Lord granted her desire. “In the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I asked the LORD for him’” (1 Samuel 1:20). Her words of praise are sometimes called the Magnificat of the Old Testament because it is so like Mary’s song in the New Testament when she learned she was to give birth to the Christ child.
We have the privilege of reading Hannah’s prayerful song and seeing both its pointing ahead to the Messiah and its praise to the God who answers prayers—Hannah’s and ours!
Hannah had the love of a faithful husband as well as the love of God. But she had no children. How she longed for a baby! She prayed fervently, and the fruitless years went by one after another.
Imagine her joy when one day the Lord granted her desire. “In the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I asked the LORD for him’” (1 Samuel 1:20). Her words of praise are sometimes called the Magnificat of the Old Testament because it is so like Mary’s song in the New Testament when she learned she was to give birth to the Christ child.
We have the privilege of reading Hannah’s prayerful song and seeing both its pointing ahead to the Messiah and its praise to the God who answers prayers—Hannah’s and ours!
Scripture Focus
1 Samuel 2:1-11
Insight
Pray continually, Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17. Sing your prayerful song to the Lord!
Bible In A Year
- Ezekiel 3-4
- Psalm 132
- Galatians 1-2